Comic Book Legend Herb Trimpe, The First Man to Draw Wolverine, Has Passed: 1939 - 2015

The comics world has lost a legend and one of the nicest guys around. In a Facebook announcement Trimpe's cousin, Glen Baisley, told the world of his passing on Monday night.

Herb Trimpe

"This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my cousin, Herb Trimpe, in action doing what he loved - meeting fans and drawing comics. I was there capturing video and interviews about his life and work with Marvel for a documentary that we were planning to work on.

Little did I know, this would be the final time I would get to see him. I wanted to share some very sad news with everyone. Monday night, Herb passed away.

Herb with his wife Linda Fite

He was a legend in the industry, the first artist to draw Wolverine for publication (HULK issue #181) and penciled some of the most iconic characters ever. He will be greatly missed.

He worked primarily for Marvel comics on titles such as: 'Kid Colt,' 'Incredible Hulk,' 'Avengers,' 'Captain America,' 'Thor,' 'Fantastic Four,' and 'G.I. Joe,' among many more. He had brief stints at Dark Horse, Image, Dell, and IDW. He is the first artist to ever draw Wolverine in any publication.

Wolverine's first appearance in Hulk #180

"The way I see it, [artist John Romita and writer Len Wein] sewed the monster together and I shocked it to life! ... It was just one of those secondary or tertiary characters, actually, that we were using in that particular book with no particular notion of it going anywhere. We did characters in The Hulk all the time that were in [particular] issues and that was the end of them."

I had the privilege of sitting and speaking with Herb at 6 'Cons over the past 3 years. He was always very gracious to all the fans that came up to him for a signature on their copies of 'Hulk,' 'G.I. Joe,' or 'Fantastic Four.' He always had a smile for everyone. He answered everyones questions. He loved talking comics, He will be missed.